AA-2026-28DE14
On the image
Assembled at the altar rail of an American Protestant church sometime in the 1950s, the full wedding party has arranged itself in the way wedding parties always arrange themselves — the women on one side, the men on the other, everyone holding very still while trying to look natural, which is the definition of a posed photograph. The bridesmaids wear the mint-green and yellow pastel gowns that a bride of this era chose with great conviction, on the understanding that her attendants would treasure the opportunity to wear them again, a belief that has never once been correct. The groomsmen are in grey and blue suits with the boutonnieres that mark a man as a participant rather than a guest, and somewhere in the middle a boy in a burgundy jacket with silver buttons is performing the role of ring bearer with the rigid dignity of someone who has been told exactly once what is expected and intends to deliver. An American flag stands in the corner beside the candelabra, because in the postwar decade it was natural to involve the flag in a wedding the way you might invite a quiet uncle — present, respected, and not entirely sure why it was asked. The bride in white is nearly lost in the centre of it all, which is the one outcome a 1950s wedding was structurally guaranteed to produce.
Visually related — by likeness
Church Wedding Party Portrait, USA, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-28DE14. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/church-wedding-party-portrait-usa-1950s.
@misc{aaAA202628DE14,
title = {Church Wedding Party Portrait, USA, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-28DE14},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/church-wedding-party-portrait-usa-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Church Wedding Party Portrait, USA, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-28DE14 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/church-wedding-party-portrait-usa-1950s ER -
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